Henley Business School achieves best-ever result in Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking 2026

Henley Business School has achieved its strongest-ever position in the Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking, rising to 32nd in the world in the 2026 results, whilst maintaining our position as 4th in the UK.

This includes ranking 1st in the UK for the third year running for overall course satisfaction.

Alumni see growth in earnings

A major contributor our result this year was the career success of our graduates on completion of the course. Alumni reported further growth in post-programme earnings, with average salaries reaching $212,000 three years after graduation. We also maintained a strong position for career progression, reflecting graduates' movement into more senior roles and larger organisations following completion of their studies.

The Executive MBA programme continues to stand out for the quality and experience of its participants. Henley was ranked 1st in the UK and 6th in the world for work experience, recognising the seniority, leadership experience and international exposure of students entering the programme.

A global Henley committed to a just world of business

We also retained our position as the top-ranked Executive MBA programme in the UK for International Course Experience for the fifth consecutive year, ranking 7th globally. The measure reflects the international nature of our programme and opportunities for participants to study across our international locations in the UK, Nordics and South Africa.

Henley continued to perform particularly strongly for diversity and inclusion. We ranked 1st in the world for women serving on the advisory board, 9th in the world for female faculty representation and 14th globally for female student representation.

The ranking also highlighted Henley's commitment to responsible leadership and sustainability. The School was ranked 22nd in the world for ESG and net zero teaching, and retained its position as the top-ranked business school in the UK for carbon footprint performance, ranking 19th globally.

Professor Anne Dibley, Head of Post-Experience & Apprenticeship Programmes said:

“We are delighted to have continued to climb the FT Executive MBA Rankings, now placing Henley at no.32 in the world. We are extremely proud to be delivering an Executive MBA that helps students develop the attributes and skills needed to navigate the complexity of today’s turbulent world. The international nature of our MBA is a great asset. We have just welcomed our latest EMBA Global cohort to Henley: students from the UK, South Africa and the Nordics among other countries, provide tremendous peer to peer learning opportunities. As well as our MBA’s global perspective, we are proud of our focus on responsible leadership, and our world class Faculty and staff who facilitate the development of outstanding business leaders.

"We enable students to sharpen their critical, analytical and creative thinking skills at Henley. More than that, though, we encourage our students not to underestimate the power of human qualities such as curiosity, deep listening, empathy, and humility. We encourage students to challenge their own thinking and assumptions, and see the world through different lenses. We believe that all of these elements together are the reason why so many of our students tell us that the Henley MBA is a transformative experience.”

About the ranking

The Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking evaluates programmes worldwide across factors including salary progression, career advancement, participant diversity, international experience, sustainability content and research performance. In 2026, 100 business schools were included in the global ranking, with eight UK institutions represented.